What else do I like to do? Obviously I enjoy writing. What else? I enjoy people watching, observing people and listening to them in a variety of settings. I enjoy the sounds of nature and good music – what sounds good to me might not sound good to another, so that’s up for discussion and discovery. I enjoy flower decorating and flowers (I lost my flower gardens this year, drat!) I enjoy learning new things. I enjoy cooking and sewing but not thrilled about cleaning. I enjoy helping other people. I enjoy sharing stories about faith and hope. I believe in the power of positive thinking (that’s hope) and I believe in the power of prayer (that’s faith).
I think I learned most about the power of positive thinking through my career in Mary Kay Cosmetics. Over and over again I remember hearing ‘What you think about you bring about.’ I began to apply this to many different areas of my life and my life began changing. Looking back I realize that I began my career in Mary Kay at a time when I was just coming out of a period of grief and stress. The positive environment in Mary Kay was a positive change in my life and helped me move forward. It also brought me back to thinking more often about my prayer life and gave me opportunities to make friends and share stories about faith. When I joined Mary Kay Cosmetics there were 3 main principles that were taught – God first, family second, career third.
I reflected on that in relationship to the first and second commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself.
I think it can sometimes be stressful to figure out how to balance God, family and career – sometimes it might seem to some people that a successful career person is loving their job over God and family – but we have to be careful not to make judgement calls like that. God calls some people into some careers and others into some other careers and that’s ok – Jesus calls us all to become disciplined and to put God first regardless of our occupations, regardless of health, wealth or any other circumstance.
In my book there’s a very short Chapter titled Love Overcomes Stress. It’s very short, but it’s thought provoking and can stimulate some good self – reflection and group discussion. If God is love and I believe that is true – then God can help us overcome stress – I believe that is true too. Overcoming stress isn’t necessarily easy to do, but with God, I believe it is always possible. I suppose that’s an important thing for you, the readers to know about me. Perhaps that’s why I write about faith matters so often.
What do you think is important for me to know about you?
